SPCA seizes horses in Gloucester County, charges owner

SOUT HARRISON A Gloucester County woman whose horses were seized this week faces up to six months in jail for alleged animal cruelty.

Seven standardbred horses and a goat were removed Tuesday from a South Harrison property by representatives of the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the state Department of Agriculture. The animals were seized as evidence in an investigation into their owner, Monica Thors, according to NJSPCA spokesman Matt Stanton.

Thors is charged with one count of unnecessary cruelty and one count of failure to provide necessary care, Stanton said. The charges, filed in municipal court, carry a potential fine of up to $1,000, and six months in jail or community service.

Stanton said the animals were overweight and lame. Critics say Thors shaved down horses’ hooves so much that they became infected.

Thors did not return calls seeking comment.

A Facebook community, formed last week by people seeking to save the horses, declared victory after officials visited Thors’ barn on Route 45.

“We did it!” the site’s operator, Kathy McGuire, posted at the group’s Facebook page around 2:30 p.m. “They finally stepped in and did their job.”

The page, called Stop Monica Thors, has been “liked” by more than 10,000 people. It carries photographs of a helmeted woman filing the hooves of multiple horses, as well as pictures of injured animals and contact information for elected officials.

“It’s a nightmare, a stinking nightmare for three years,” added Allen, whose family runs a small backyard horse-training operation on the 11.8-acre farm.

Lynne Richmond, a spokeswoman for the Agriculture Department, said she could not confirm the animals were taken to Mays Landing-based Funny Farm Animal Rescue, which had trucks at the scene.

Allen said Thors approached her family about boarding horses in 2011, after she was asked to leave Gloucester County’s Delaware River Equine and Marine Park.

Thors was “noncompliant with several of the rules,” said county spokeswoman Debra Sellitto, adding it was “never an abuse situation.”

Allen said Thors built a barn on her property and paid for the space. Thors’ website describes her as a horse photographer who previously worked as a trainer and driver.

“I’ve been watching the horses being crippled every day; I’m filming it,” Allen alleged, saying she filed complaints with the NJSPCA last year. “I’ve got it all documented — 1,259 pages of documents and an awful lot of flash drives.”

In August, she connected with NJ Aid for Animals, a Winslow-based nonprofit run by McGuire.

Stanton said the SPCA has been investigating Thors since last year.

He said that multiple experts have evaluated Thors’ practices. It took time to coordinate with the Agriculture Department, which also has investigated the case but lacks authority to file charges, he said.

Thors disputed the cruelty claims on her own Facebook page last week.

“THIS IS NOT THE TRUTH. I WELCOME ANY VISITOR,” she wrote Nov. 26.

Thors on Saturday posted her barn was “closed to visitors” due to “too many threats and not correct comments from people.”

On her Facebook page, she said a horse in a sling seen in a TV news report had “contracted tendons” and was “waiting for me to have enough money for surgery.”

“I did have two horses that we put down due to foot infections from a glue I used, and I don’t hide that. Never did,” she added.